Leeds fans are losing patience with Ezgjan Alioski due to his lack of threat when in the final third.
Fans have been complaining about the Macedonian after a video was posted on Twitter of Alioski wasting a fantastic opportunity out wide as his cross goes straight out for a goal kick.
Alioski hasn’t been productive going forward recently. Since moving to left-back earlier in the season the 27-year-old has only provided two assists. In comparison, Barry Douglas has five assists to his name this season whilst playing at left-back.
Alioski’s versatility has been a great asset for Marcelo Bielsa this season as he has been deployed as both a winger and a defender on the left side but Leeds fans are now fed up with the poor delivery which he continuously provides.
Leeds fans have been complaining about Alioski’s attacking threat after yet another squandered opportunity.
Here’s what Leeds fans had to say on Twitter…
Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…
Tottenham Hotspur christened the opening of their impressive new stadium by taking the three points in a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, as 59,215 people crammed into the remarkable venue.
The north London came into the clash having only taken one point from the previous 15 available in the Premier League, and it seemed as though they would struggle to pick up a maximum return again before Son Heung-Min scored a historic goal in the 55th minute.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has certainly been a controversial character at times during his reign with the north London outfit, which has hardly been helped by the fact that the club hasn’t signed a single player in the previous two transfer windows.
A lack of investment has often been questioned considering Tottenham have competed well in both the English top flight and the Champions League in recent times, but there is no doubt that he deserves some praise for finally getting them into their magnificent new home.
Harrogate Spurs went a step further on Wednesday as they unveiled a banner thanking the 57-year-old, with the caption: “Your dream …. Our future”.
They will certainly take a step further to ensuring their future is a positive one by securing a top-four finish in the Premier League and bringing top-level European football to their new stadium next season.
Loads of Huddersfield fans have been reacting to Saturday’s results, as the club’s relegation was confirmed.
The Terriers travelled to Selhurst Park on Saturday praying for a miracle, but things just didn’t fall for Jan Siewert’s side.
After spurning multiple good chances to take the lead, they fell behind when Wilfried Zaha was fouled in the box and Luka Milivojevic made no mistake from the spot.
Patrick van Aanholt then doubled the Eagles’ lead, and victories for both Southampton and Burnley means there will be no top flight football at The John Smith’s Stadium next season.
Of course, relegation could actually be a blessing in disguise for the club, as it’s not like they were making a lot of noise in the Premier League anyway.
Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…
If they can hang on to promising youngsters like Philip Billing and Karlan Grant they will surely have some fun in the Championship, and that’s exactly what fans are hoping for.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where optimism is the name of the game for the Huddersfield faithful…
Loads of Sunderland fans have been running the rule over Wednesday’s action, as Jack Ross’ side produced a wonderfully professional performance to move back into third.
After playing 120 minutes and losing by one missed penalty kick at Wembley on Sunday, the Black Cats may have been forgiven for not looking quite at their best when they visited Accrington Stanley on Wednesday.
They were about as close to perfection as you could possibly get though, winning 3-0 with a thorough, professional and most importantly clinical display.
They took the lead early on when Aiden McGeady produced another moment of magic with a stunning free kick, and the hosts rarely threatened before Will Grigg made it 2-0.
It was no different after the break either, and Kazaiah Sterling added a goal of his own late on.
While he wasn’t on the score-sheet, fans are delighted with the performance of Charlie Wyke, who has been scapegoated often this season having struggled to make an impact on Wearside.
He was physically dominant, tenacious and provided exactly the presence Grigg has been missing besides him. Quite simply, the hosts had absolutely no idea how to deal with him.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are changing their tune about the summer signing…
What a month it has been. We’ve witnessed Manchester City trim Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table to just one point, Fulham and Huddersfield sink further adrift at the bottom, and the race for the Golden Boot hot up – it really is all to play for as we enter the business end to the season.
Anyway, enough about team performances, and onto the players who made the magic happen. Let’s take a look at the Premier League nominees for the PFA Bristol Street Motors Fans’ Player of the Month award for February…
Sergio Aguero
The Manchester City forward enjoyed a phenomenal month in February. Aguero hit back-to-back hat-tricks at the Etihad against Arsenal and Chelsea to equal Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 11 in the competition.
Furthermore, the Argentine also scored from the spot against West Ham to win the game 1-0 and earn his side a crucial three points.
Ashley Barnes
Burnley’s No.10 was in excellent form throughout February. The 29-year-old hit three goals in his four appearances, with those strikes coming in three consecutive games and helping seal impressive results against Tottenham and Manchester United.
Barnes also grabbed an assist in the 3-1 win against his former club, Brighton.
Aymeric Laporte
The Frenchman was instrumental in helping his side regain their footing in the title race during the month of February.
Laporte scored a crucial goal against Everton, set one up against Arsenal and was also handed one Man of the Match award for his performance against the Toffees, to crown an impressive month for the 24-year-old defender.
Paul Pogba
The rejuvenated midfielder continued his fine form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in February. Pogba hit two more goals in his four appearances throughout the month, whilst also setting up a further two as Manchester United staked a claim for a top four place.
Additionally, the French international won the WhoScored Man of the Match award for two of his four performances – impressive stuff.
Raheem Sterling
Sterling earned a perfect 10 rating from WhoScored for his performance in the 6-0 demolition of Chelsea, a game in which he grabbed two goals, including the opener.
The England international also set up two goals against Arsenal to cap off an impressive February for himself and the Citizens.
Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool’s colossal centre-back helped his side keep three clean sheets in their four games throughout February, winning a whopping 25 aerial duels and making 23 clearances in that time.
Van Dijk also managed to grab himself two goals, as the Reds ended the month sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League with a massive 5-0 win over Watford.
When London Evening Standard reported on Sunday that Manchester United are prepared to pay £34million to acquire the services of Mauricio Pochettino, the immediate, knee-jerk reaction was one of shock.
As far as managers go that’s a staggering sum – according to The Telegraph’s Matt Law, reporting in December, it would be a world-record amount.
And yet, that in itself highlights the strange paradox of football. How can the most expensive player in the world, £200million man Neymar, be valued at almost six times more than what might come to be the most expensive sum ever shelled out for a manager?
What other industry values subordinates as greater assets than their bosses, and devotes six times as much money in bringing them into the company? It simply doesn’t make sense. Even as London Evening Standard’s own report highlights, £34million spent on Pochettino would still be a fraction of the cost United splashed out on Fred last summer. The Brazilian has gone on to make just seven Premier League appearances.
Of course, there’s a tangible difference in that footballers are nearly always worth something as long as they’re under contract, even if their value rapidly depreciates due to poor performances. Take Danny Ings as an example: Liverpool signed him for an initial £6.5million and after serious injuries limited him to just 25 first-team appearances in three years, they agreed in the summer a £20million sale to Southampton.
Managers, on the other hand, only tend to cost the club even more money when they don’t live up to expectations. Jose Mourinho, in addition to pocketing whatever he earned in wages at Old Trafford, was part of a £20million payoff just to get him out of the club after a disastrous run of results.
Yes, clubs often take a hit on flopped signings, but the only way they can find resale value on a manager is if another club comes in for him – and usually, when that happens, it’s because he’s doing incredibly well. For most clubs too, there is nearly always somebody out of work desperate to take a job, whether its Sam Allardyce or Steve Bruce. Poaching isn’t necessary.
That perspective, however, completely ignores the role a manager plays in the modern game, and Pochettino represents a particularly fitting case study. The amount of value he’s added to Tottenham’s squad simply through exceptional management has been staggering.
Last summer, CIES Football Observatory ranked Harry Kane as the most valuable player in the world, while Dele Alli was valued at over £150million – these are players who, prior to Pochettino’s tutelage, were respectively stuck on the fringes of the first team squad and playing in League One.
Soccer Football – Premier League – Watford v Tottenham Hotspur – Vicarage Road, Watford, Britain – September 2, 2018 Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Kieran Trippier celebrate an own goal their first scored by Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use
That’s not to suggest Kane and Alli wouldn’t be revered as amongst world football’s best without Pochettino’s guidance, such is their immense natural talent, and it’s as much a nod to Tottenham’s youth development and recruitment as it is the Argentine. But the chances are that neither would have flourished anywhere near as quickly had Pochettino not taken the reins in north London.
Simply put, managers are value adders; appearances, international caps, performance levels and silverware all naturally increase a player’s worth. So why, in financial terms at least, do we view them as so secondary to playing talent?
Unai Emery earns just over £115k per week at Arsenal; Mesut Ozil takes home more than three times that at £350k. In 2016/17, Cristiano Ronaldo earned €87.5million in wages, bonuses and sponsorship; at the start of that same season, Zinedine Zidane’s salary was just £4.6million (€5.27million). It seems clubs are prepared to let managers take on all the risk of glory or failure, yet limit them from the same level of reward.
In many ways though, the fact this paradox has become of genuine interest is symptomatic of how football has changed. Managers were once seen as mysterious, illusive figures who watched training from afar, picked the team and occasionally indulged in stuffy, stiff give-nothing-away interviews.
But nowadays, managers are perceived almost as cult-of-personality leaders; visionaries, philosophers, psychologists, heroes and pantomime villains. They’ve moved from behind the curtain to centre-stage and there’s greater attention on tactics, systems and personal relationships than ever before.
Responsibility has accordingly shifted: whenever a team falls short, it’s nearly always the manager we blame first. Once upon a time, the passion and commitment of the players would be the primary target.
That, in itself, though, once again highlights the paradox. We expect managers to inspire the best from their players, to organise them in a way that creates football both entertaining and efficient, and yet the notion of a £34million fee – the kind of money that wouldn’t even be enough to sign most top class players – still leaves us a little open-mouthed.
You’re far more likely to hear a supporter lament it as another indication of football’s decadent wealth than praise it as a representation of Pochettino’s genuine worth. But maybe, just maybe, a world-record fee for the Argentine is evidence of the situation starting to change.
كشفت تقارير صحفية حقيقة تفكير الإسباني تياجو ألكانتارا في الانتقال إلى مانشستر سيتي، قبل إتمام صفقة انضمامه إلى صفوف فريق ليفربول، في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.
وكان ليفربول قد أعلن، اليوم الجمعة، حصوله على خدمات تياجو ألكانتارا من بايرن ميونخ بعد سلسلة من المفاوضات بين الناديين.
وسبق أن ذكرت تقارير صحفية أن مانشستر سيتي قد يفكر في ضم تياجو ألكانتارا، حيث سبق له العمل تحت قيادة المدرب بيب جوارديولا في برشلونة وبايرن ميونخ.
وحرص جوارديولا على نقل تياجو إلى الأليانز آرينا من الكامب نو، في عام 2013.
اقرأ أيضًا.. كيف تحولت بوصلة ألكانتارا من التجديد مع بايرن ميونخ إلى ليفربول؟
ولكن أحد المقربين من تياجو ألكانتارا أكد أن الأخير لم يفكر على الإطلاق في مسألة انتقاله إلى مانشستر سيتي، هذا الصيف.
وقال شخص مقرب من تياجو، في تصريحات لشبكة “ذا أثلتيك” الإنجليزية: “كانت لديهما علاقة احترافية جيدة (تياجو وجوارديولا)، ولكن كما هو الحال مع العديد من اللاعبين تحت إدارة بيب، كانت التجربة معًا شديدة للغاية”.
وأضاف أن عدد قليل جدًا من هؤلاء اللاعبين يعودون للعمل تحت إمرة جوارديولا مرة أخرى.
The Athletic’s West Ham United reporter Roshane Thomas believes that the club can beat Southampton this weekend after an impressive performance against Liverpool, per the U Irons podcast (February 25th, 3:05).
What’s he said?
The Hammers almost became the first team to beat Jurgen Klopp’s men on Monday night, turning in a gutsy performance that eventually ended in a 3-2 defeat.
The result could mark something of a turning point, though, for a team that had not won in seven prior to their clash at Anfield and remain in the relegation zone.
Thomas, though, saw enough to believe that the club can replicate the performance this weekend against Saints, who have won just one of their last three league games, believing that the players available to Moyes are better than those available to Ralph Hasenhuttl – perhaps a big claim given the south coast outfit currently lie 10 points above them in the standings.
He said: “I can’t see any reason why we can’t replicate a similar performance.
“Bearing in mind XI against XI I feel like our XI is much better than Southampton’s XI , there’s no reason why we can’t play to the level we play today at Anfield.”
Did he really play for us?! No West Ham fan has managed to name all of these obscure Irons signings….
Momentum is key
West Ham have to capitalise on this performance which may sound a tad strange when one considers that they lost at Anfield.
But this was an improved performance from a side that have previously fallen to a 4-1 defeat to Leicester City and a lop-sided 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
If they are to stay up, they need to take the positives where they can get them and they simply must build on this display if they are to have any chance of making up the one-point gap to Aston Villa.
Southampton marks perhaps their most straightforward of their next five games, with matches against Arsenal, Wolves, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea looming.
Three points are a must.
Meanwhile, West Ham proved one group wrong with their performance!
Everton supporters have become accustomed to rumours linking Idrissa Gueye with a move away from the club, but PSG’s decision to sign Leandro Paredes should have eased their fears somewhat with less than 48 hours to go until the deadline passes.
Rumours concerning Gueye’s future have persisted despite PSG’s deal to sign Paredes, but the Senegal international’s paramount importance to the club should force the hierarchy to resist any forthcoming offers in the final hours.
Indeed, it is incredibly difficult to find a defensive midfielder who can protect the defence and contribute to the possession-based game as well as Gueye, and his value to this Everton side is comparable to that of Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace, according to Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth.
Indeed, while speaking on Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk podcast, Sheth suggested that the Toffees were absolutely spot on to reject a recent £21.5 million offer from PSG for Gueye, using Zaha’s comparative importance at Palace to illuminate his point.
“Comparing it to Zaha at Crystal Palace: Some people might say right £50 million wow, that’s amazing, but to Palace he might be worth more than £50 million because of the role he plays for that club, you could say the same for Gueye as well.
“£21.5 million for a 29-year-old on the face of it yes, but what will he take out of Everton? How important is he to Everton?”
Sheth is absolutely spot on in his verdict. While it must be considered that Gueye will never command the same extortionate value as Zaha due to the position he plays and his lack of goal scoring prowess, his importance to the way Everton operate is similar to that of the electric Ivorian.
Losing Gueye mid-season would be a bitter blow for the club and leave them short of a focal point in midfield. Everton have been struggling with Gueye in the side, so removing him from the equation would certainly leave Marco Silva in a precarious situation with pressure already beginning to mount on his shoulders.
It’s unlikely that Everton will be able to resist the advances of Europe’s biggest clubs if they come calling in the summer window, but Gueye’s importance to the club has put the hierarchy in a position to command far more than £21.5 million for his signature.
Zaha, meanwhile, will continue to attract a markedly higher transfer fee due to his talent in the final-third, but that is not to say that the difference in price equates to a difference in importance to Gueye.
Both players are indispensable in their own right and Everton and Palace would be foolish to allow their star players to leave for anything other than a premium price.
Eddie Howe has got his Cherries ticking so far this season, sitting pretty in sixth place with 20 points to their name.
In fact, just two points are all that separates Bournemouth from the Champions League positions after the opening 10 fixtures, and summer signing David Brooks is flourishing in the free-flowing attacking football Howe motivates his stars to produce at the Vitality Stadium.
The left-footed attacking midfielder has featured in nine of the opening rounds of the Premier League season, all on the right hand flank, and has struck home three times. His most recent goal came last weekend against Fulham to cement the Cherries’ lead as Adam Smith’s determined run down the wing led to Ryan Fraser slotting in the 21-year-old who had timed his run perfectly.
Yet, while the Warrington-born midfielder is receiving a lot of plaudits for his performances in red and black, the Sheffield United youth graduate has not been the key difference between this year’s line-up and what has been witness to in the past. That man is Jefferson Lerma.
Lerma, like Brooks, arrived in Boscombe during the summer, only his move from Levante saw the Cherries break their transfer record with a £25.2million splurge on a 24-year-old defensive midfielder. Previously Howe’s most expensive purchase had been Nathan Ake when the defender’s loan move from Chelsea turned permanent.
The spend marked the fourth successive year in which Bournemouth had broken their own record fee after Benik Afobe and Jordon Ibe had the honour, but neither have proved a particularly worthwhile purchase.
Afobe for one was a major disappointment on the south coast and it is telling that the Arsenal youth star is no longer at the club, now plying his trade at Stoke City on loan having originally been signed back to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As for Ibe, the 5 foot 9 winger joined the likes of Afobe in the summer of 2016 but remains a part of Howe’s Cherries roster. The forward that emerged out of Wycombe Wanderers’ academy has never established his presence as a vital cog in the system, leading to just three outings so far this season in all competitions.
In contrast, Lerma is certainly doing what the likes of Afobe and Ibe could not, make his presence felt from the off.
On the back of featuring for his country four times at the summer’s World Cup in Russia, Lerma’s inclusion in a matchday squad was delayed until August 28, when Howe brought the defensive midfielder into his plans for the visit of MK Dons in the Carabao Cup.
Since starting in the midweek affair alongside Lewis Cook in the centre of the field, the 5 foot 10 unit went on to feature in every game up until Tuesday night’s home visit of Norwich in the Carabao Cup, where Howe did not include the Colombian in the squad at all.
But his exclusion from the cup likely has something to do with this weekend’s visit of Manchester United to the Vitality Stadium, for the midfielder is forming the base of a Cherries side that had begged for his type of character since earning their first-ever promotion to the top flight of English football.
Since Bournemouth won the 2014-15 EFL Championship on the final day of the season, seeing off the threat of Watford by a single point, the Cherries have played some of the best attacking football in the Premier League.
The likes of Harry Arter certainly played their part in spreading the ball with ease but the 28-year-old Irishman was essentially the core of the side despite not carrying a serious defensive aspect to his game.
Lerma provides just that – he loves to challenge for the ball and cut the passing lanes before it reaches the opposition – but does not dive into tackles rashly and knows when it is best to stand off the opponent and shield the space.
When you watch Bournemouth break, while a more attacking focused player would look to see where the space is to add another option, the Cherries’ number eight remains back and watches the play unfold to ensure his side cannot be caught out pushing too many upfront and leaving themselves vulnerable should the ball come free.
Having this awareness to keep numbers back and sure up the defence if needed is allowing Bournemouth to flourish the way they are so far this season, conceding the sixth-fewest goals of any side but also scoring the fifth most.
Lerma is showing how he is personally growing his involvement in the side, having gone from producing the seventh most passes out of the Bournemouth players in his first two Premier League outings to regularly appearing amongst the top three passers in Howe’s side since – including 58 efforts in the Cherries’ 4-0 route over Watford as well as winning four aerial duels and making three successful tackles.
Who knows just how pivotal the Colombian can become after his manager admitted the man of the match against Watford and Southampton is still learning the English language.